


Senior Year

by Pretzelrosecoloredglasses



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Goode Academy, High School, Post BoO, Post-Canon, Post-HoO
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2020-10-13 20:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20588450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pretzelrosecoloredglasses/pseuds/Pretzelrosecoloredglasses
Summary: This is Percy's senior(ish) year at Goode. My best efforts were put towards avoiding all the usual cliches. It somewhat includes the reunion with Sally that I have been wanting since the Lost Hero, and what I hope to make a mostly peaceful year.





	1. Percy Comes Home

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of doing my Arabic homework... Not sure how good I'll be about updating it, but I have four chapters written, and a general plot planned out.

The first few days back in New York were some of the hardest of Percy’s life. There were lots of tears, of course, and long conversations and even longer explanations to go through. Every time a sensitive subject came up, Percy held his breath, hoping it would just go away, and he wouldn’t have to watch his mom cry again. This was pretty rough, considering just about everything was a sensitive subject.

Even worse, though, was the feeling after all the relief and pain had dulled somewhat, and nobody could figure out what to do with themselves. Sally and Paul had developed their own kind of routine, having been living just the two of them for so long. It was good for them. Percy couldn’t think of anyone who deserved happiness more than his mom. But, no matter where he went, he felt like he was intruding. Even his bedroom, which had been meticulously maintained, made him feel guilty for all its seclusion. Who was he to hide away when his mom hadn’t seen him in almost a full year?

Paul was a big help. He was the bedrock foundation that Sally seemed to have used to stabilize her life, amidst the chaos. He was always there to break through an awkward moment between mother and son. And, when they needed a moment together, he quick to tactfully find an errand to do without any prompting. The best thing, though, was that Paul didn’t know Percy very well from before this whole mess. He didn’t have any sort of expectations about the stepson who’d emerged from hell half the world away. It was a relief, not to have to worry how to act around him. Percy could flinch when a news story about children drowning played on the news. He could openly talk about how beautiful Italy was. And, when nightmares kept him up all night, the next morning they could share a cup of coffee that he’d taken to drinking since New Rome.

It wasn’t a routine, exactly, but it wasn’t awkward either.

On his fifth day back home, Paul was the one who pointed out that Percy was still technically a missing person, and that they should probably get that cleared up if he wanted to enroll in school. After all, the deadline was coming up, and Percy still had to get everything sorted out, if he wanted to graduate on time.

“It’s fine if you want to wait to start school again, but we should really inform the staff at Goode that you’re okay. Some people were really worried.”

It occurred to Percy that maybe there were people who’d been hurt by his sudden disappearance besides his mother (and Annabeth, of course). He thought of the basketball team, of the handful of friends he’d made, of his algebra teacher who’d stayed an hour after school with him three days a week for a full year, determined that he not only pass, but do well. It killed him that he might have made them worry about him, perhaps even though he was dead or off in a drug den somewhere. He was sure that’s what most people at Goode thought of him.

“Okay,” he said simply. A surge of anxiety made him want to run to his room, but he didn’t. Instead, he added, “We should call Chiron. I’ll bet he has some connections that could help us sort through any legal issues.”

His mom gave him a tight hug. Percy was fairly sure he sounded normal, if not completely reasonable, but that didn’t matter to Sally Jackson-Blofis. Obviously, she could tell that it was going to be hard for him; she was his mom.

They spent the rest of the evening baking enough blue cookies to feed a small army, while Paul did his best not to pressure him into enrolling in school in the fall. He mostly failed, but Percy didn’t mind. He wanted a sense of normalcy, anyway. Besides, his other option was to spend the next year as a liaison between Greek and Roman demigods. It was way too soon for him to get involved in any of that.

Two days later, police officers showed up at the door early in the morning. There were a multitude of identity checks (wouldn’t want anyone to take advantage of a poor couple whose son was missing and presumed dead), and then a brief consultation with CPS before everyone was shepherded to a police station to go through lots of legal paperwork.

Percy was subjected to multiple rounds of thumbprint identification, then promptly separated from his parents while everyone was questioned separately by CPS, the police, and an agent of New Rome who was responsible for helping to account for the time he was on his quest to Italy. The room they put him in was comfortable enough, but not the ideal place to spend eight hours waiting, with the occasional paperwork, statements, and questions.

The very worst part was the counselor they sent in, to help Percy deal with “communicating his trauma.” The less said about that, the better.

The official story was that Percy was kidnapped by a relative of his late father, transported across the country against his will, and dealt with significant enough brain damage in the process of escaping the whole ordeal that he was left with extreme amnesia and crippling disorientation for several months.

He’d lived on the streets, in and out of a shelter in California, but without any real idea of where his family lived or what they were called. Percy had a particularly hard time recalling that part, since it was mostly true. He recounted how he’d only remembered one name; Annabeth, the girl he’d been dating when he disappeared.

At some point this last winter, though, Percy had started remembered details. He was from New York City, he lived in an apartment, and he lived with his mom. Finally, he’d remembered his birthdate and his mother’s first name. It had been enough to track him down. Luckily, there was only one Percy – Perseus – born in New York City to a single mother named Sally on August 18th. Not willing to wait, though, Percy had run away and hitchhiked across the country to get to his mom.

Even Percy had to admit it seemed a bit far-fetched, but the officials ate it up. Percy was already on record for being an unstable kid, so they were willing to accept that he’d lived on the streets, and with a certain amount of manipulation of the mist, they were able to forge proof that Percy’s father’s family was estranged and full of scary criminal records.

Plus, well, it wasn’t hard to make it sound convincing. Percy was traumatized, and he had had amnesia. He’d even done a brief stint of living on the streets and he had plenty of experience running away from evil entities trying to kill him. His life was pretty fucked up, when he thought about it the way a CPS counselor might see him. He wasn’t ashamed to cry about it, but it was really embarrassing to do it in front of someone he’d never met before.

Unfortunately, once the eight-plus hours of processing was over, and neither Percy nor his parents were determined to be dangerous to each other, they were not done with the legal process. The state of New York was pressing charges on Percy’s crazy family for child endangerment and kidnapping, for which he might be required to give another statement at a later date, and he’d been required by the state to receive trauma counseling, to be approved by his social worker.

“Just because you’re home with your parents doesn’t mean that we don’t care what happens to you,” the aforementioned social worker explained.

Percy, of course, appealed to his representative from New Rome, but he wasn’t very useful either.

“Sorry,” he’d said, smiling wryly. “But our policies are exactly the same when it comes to people returning from quests. Technically, you still owe your time as a soldier. You’re on an indefinite leave, of course, but New Rome still has a vested interest in your mental health. We can reimburse you for the fees, if it’s a problem, and I can recommend several counselors who know about our world, but that’s the best I can do.”

Next, as a last resort, Percy had IMed Chiron, hoping to get the whole requirement waved. After all, camp half-blood didn’t have any such standards. Unsurprisingly, though, Chiron was all for the arrangement, and even made plans to discuss potential options with his parents. Percy didn’t even try asking his mom or Paul.


	2. Percy Figures Out Classes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all.

Two weeks later, Percy attended _seven_meetings with various teachers and staff members at Goode Academy about his course schedule. He had to go to so many because he had to meet with each of his teachers from Junior year to discuss completing the courses, before he could meet first with a guidance counselor and then with the Head of school. It was all a bit of a mess, but Paul had offered to come with him, and everyone was very understanding that he’d had a very bad year so far.

Percy finished the fall term of six classes before he’d disappeared, and five of those six were two-semester classes. Pottery-making was only one semester. Of the remaining five, he was most on track for his Latin class. Living in New Rome, and then studying with Annabeth on the Argo II had been a bit like a crash course in Latin, and imbued in him a shadow of the ability he possessed for understanding ancient Greek. The teacher, a sweet-but-strict eighty-year-old woman, had seemed skeptical, but agreed to let Percy sit the final exam for the spring term a week before classes started. She would definitely have questions about how an amnesic runaway had somehow learned intermediate Latin, but that didn’t really bother Percy, as long as she accepted his grade.

On the polar opposite side of the spectrum, he would have to completely abandon Earth Science. It had been a cool class, but the teacher refused to offer extra tutoring time or the chance to do a make-up final. Luckily, Percy didn’t actually need it, though. He’d have to take a science class his senior year, but that was alright.

His other classes were not as easy to figure out. The pre-calculus teacher also would have allowed Percy to simply take the final, but there was no way he could possibly learn enough to pass it in the two weeks before classes started. Eventually, Percy agreed to get a tutor to learn the material after school in order to take the test at the end of the fall term. It would be especially difficult because Percy would need to relearn much of the first term of material as well, but he was determined. Nothing could be quite so difficult as fighting a giant, right?

The real problems were US History and Junior English. They were both required classes to graduate, and not the kind that he could make up with a simple exam or even extracurricular tutoring. Percy would need to take equivalent classes somehow, on top of the required Senior English class he would be taking. It was a difficult pill to swallow, but he was going to have to do an extra term after the spring of his senior year. The good news, though, was that Percy could take both of them as summer classes at a community college. He wouldn’t be able to graduate in the spring with all his friends, but he wouldn’t lose the entire fall of next year. If he worked things out right, he might even be able to attend the California State University in New Rome.

Once Percy went through the entire process of scheduling tutors and his Latin make-up exam, he had a brief talk with a guidance counselor about what classes he should register for in order to graduate (almost) on time, whether or not he could rejoin the basketball team, since he technically wasn’t in good academic standing (yes, as long as he kept up his grades), and what his options were for college applications (not a lot until he actually graduated). Then, of course, he had the meeting he was looking to least of all.

The Head of School at Goode Academy was a strict, tough-love kind of woman named Trisha Gibbs (Mrs. Gibbs) who usually scared the shit out of Percy. She was five-foot-two and slight, but the sight of her sharp face or sound of her no-nonsense comments made most Goode students sweat. Today, though, she marched straight up to Percy and gave him a bone-crushing hug. It took him so much by surprise that he had to fight the urge to fling her off of him, but fortunately it was over as fast as it happened.

“Percy Jackson. I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am that you are okay,” she said heavily. Percy was surprised to see that her eyes were glassy. He’d always gotten the impression that she was so tough because of how much she cared about each student, but he never would have imagined he could bring the woman to tears.

“Thanks,” he said awkwardly, feeling oddly touched by the situation. He had to stare at the floor for a while so that he didn’t do anything embarrassing like get teary-eyed too.

“It’s like a miracle,” Paul said with emotion. His hand moved to rest on Percy’s shoulder. It made him feel a bit braver. Everyone took a moment to gather themselves.

“The real miracle will be me graduating before I’m nineteen,” Percy finally said. School. He could talk about school.

“Right,” said Mrs. Gibbs, doing a very good impression of an unaffected professional. “Well, I don’t know if miracle is the right word for that. I think you can do it, Percy. Everything looks like its sorted out. You’ll have to stay on top of your work, of course, and it’ll be hard to get back into the swing of things after… once term starts up again. You know you can always let someone know if you need a break, though. All of our counselors are ready to talk, or just sit if that’s what you need. No one expects you to be a hundred percent right away.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Percy said thickly.

“We really appreciate it, Trisha,” Paul answered sincerely. “And we trust Percy to take himself home if needs to. Sally works from home most days, and Percy’s camp director is a trusted contact who can also be reached.”

Mrs. Gibbs nodded, and made a note in a yellow notebook. “I’ll inform some of the staff that Percy’s cleared to sign himself out. Of course, he has to make the minimum attendance requirement,” she said apologetically.

“I don’t think-” Percy started, but Paul quickly cut him off.

“We’ll play it by ear. Let’s see how the first month goes.”

Mrs. Gibbs nodded again, “That sounds reasonable. If there are any major problems, we can always reassess. Now, are there any other accommodations I can make, Paul? Percy, is there anything else we can do? I would prefer that you have a counselor as a point-person for the year. Dr. Rodriguez is new to our school, but he has a lot of experience working with kids who’ve been in similar situations. Of course, you can choose someone else. If you’d be more comfortable with a woman, or maybe with someone you know, that can be arranged.”

“He sounds alright,” Percy said easily, finally feeling like he had a bit of control of his situation.

Dr. Rodriguez had much more experience with kids like Percy than Mrs. Gibbs could possibly have known. He had come recommended by his New Rome case-worker as a trauma-counselor who’d actually grown up in the world of demigods and monsters. Percy, being the savior of New Rome not just once, but twice over, had been given access to the very best, and the man had agreed not just to move his practice to New York, but to actually take a year off and work as a high school counselor at Goode to help Percy (and a few other affected demigods in the area) adjust back into regular life.

“We actually already connected with Dr. Rodriguez independently through another resource – Percy’s camp – and we were thrilled to hear he was planning on coming to Goode anyway. He’s even offered to do extra counseling sessions,” Paul explained smoothly.

Mrs. Gibbs didn’t seem to know how to take that. “Oh. Well, that’s a bit odd. What kind of camp has contacts with trauma counselors in California?”

Percy shifted forward, letting Paul know he was planning on answering. “It’s the kind of camp you can only get into as a legacy, and my dad went there. Mr. C. helped him deal with his family back in the day, so…”

“They’re really more of family than camp directors,” Paul added hastily.

“Alright, then. Well, I’m glad you’ve connected to Dr. Rodriguez, then. That’s mostly what I wanted to cover today, but there’s one more thing to discuss before the semester starts. It might be a bit difficult,” she said carefully.

Percy glanced at Paul questioningly. His stepdad shrugged, so he said, “Okay…”

“Well, we were planning on releasing a statement to the school about the situation. It was very distressing for lots of members of the community. Of course, we can wait a while for you to talk to any of your friends in person, but ideally it would go out before school starts. I just want to know what you’re comfortable with sharing.”

“Oh.”

He hadn’t expected that. It wasn’t even on his radar that complete strangers were aware that he’d gone missing for several months. Of course, Goode had informed all the parents. Which meant that, again, everyone would know way more about his life than he was comfortable with. He briefly wondered if other demigods had the same problem. Cover stories were usually pretty intense, and it wasn’t like you could explain to everyone at your school that weird shit always happened to you because your parent was a godly being.

“I don’t want to lie to them,” he blurted out.

“Of course not,” Mrs. Gibbs reassured. Paul tensed, though. Percy realized that, to the Head of School, his entire kidnapping story was real. A lot of it _was _real.

“I mean,” he started again, “I don’t want people to know about-about my dad’s family. Or that I was living, you know… But I guess it’s probably best if you tell them that I’m okay. And that I have amnesia, because I still sometimes forget things. I mostly just don’t want anyone to ask about it. I don’t want to explain…”

Paul gave him a side-hug. He felt so stupid, since most of what he was talking about didn’t actually happen. It was bringing everything back, though. The fear of being alone in a strange city, of not knowing anyone, of getting lost in Tartarus with no sleep and no peace for weeks.

“Alright. We’ll have you okay anything before we send it out. But let’s be done for now,” Mrs. Gibbs said so gently that Percy would have sworn it was a different woman, even after how she’d acted the whole meeting.

“Thanks, Trisha. I’ll see you next week. We can talk more then,” said Paul. He kept rubbing Percy’s back until he felt like he could look up without breaking down.

They left pretty quickly after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I haven't read the series completely in a long time, so I apologize in advance if I messed things up. Also, the timeline for when Percy was gone is incorrect, but I really wanted him to finish his fall semester of junior year so that he could realistically graduate.


	3. We Meet Percy's Friends

Annabeth told Percy she was moving to the city just one week before term started at Goode. 

“Are you serious!” he said over IM to her. It felt way too good to be true.

Annabeth just smiled in response, and nodded her head. 

“But, wait, where are you going to live? What about school?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” she said happily. “I’m transferring to Goode! I’m going to board there. Chiron only just worked out the details last night. I’m moving in to the dorms on Saturday!”

“Holy shit!” 

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” she agreed.

“Oh my gods, that is amazing. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to survive without you, and now I don’t have to!”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “You do actually have to fight some of your own battles, you know,” she said sarcastically.

“Never,” Percy replied, slightly breathless. He felt a touch of anxiety, though, when he realized that he might actually mean that. “Well, almost never,” he amended. 

“I suppose that’s alright, then. Just so long as you fight my battles with me, too,” she half-joked.

There was a strange note in the air. Percy so rarely felt awkward around Annabeth that he almost balked at the feeling. It had been happening a lot lately. “Well, I certainly won’t be able to help you with AP Calculus. You’ll have to take that monster yourself,” he joked. 

Annabeth laughed, but it didn’t fix whatever he was going on between them.

“Look… I have to finish packing up and making sure everyone’s going to be okay without me. I’ll IM you later, though. And I’ll see you on Saturday,” she said hastily.

They’d only been talking for five minutes, and it was the first time in over a week. Something was up. Still, though, Percy thought it was better to just let it be. “Okay,” he said, trying not to sound worried. It didn’t really work.

He was more successful when he told his parents, though.

“Honey, that’s great!” said his mom, pulling him into a hug. When she pulled back she looked almost as happy as he was. Of course, Annabeth had been the one to keep his mom updated when he was missing. They had a bond besides through their relationships to him.

“Wow. I’ll bet that turns your year around, doesn’t it?” said Paul encouragingly. Of course, Paul was never not encouraging.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great,” Percy replied, and he couldn’t help but be touched by their excitement. 

Three days before school started, Percy invited his three closest friends over to their apartment. That night, Mrs. Gibbs was going to release her statement about how he wasn’t missing anymore. He thought it was probably polite to let them know he was alive in person before they found out from a mass email.

Anya was the first to arrive. That wasn’t really surprising. She always showed up at least twenty minutes early to everything, because she took the subway everywhere, and it was so unreliable that she’d taken to taking the train two time slots before she needed to leave.

She froze when Percy opened the door. 

“Fuck,” she said eloquently.

“Yeah,” he replied, before pulling her into a hug. 

They stayed like that for a long time. That also made sense. Anya was a hugger. 

“I thought you were dead,” she said through tears.

“I know,” he said sadly.

“But no one knew for sure. That was the worse part. I felt like I was giving up on you if I thought of you as dead. It horrible,” she choked at him.

“I know,” he said again.

“What the fuck happened?” she demanded.

“It’s a long story. I’d rather wait until Josh and Jessie get here,” he said awkwardly. He hated this part. He hated Hera and her stupid manipulating. Most of all, though, he hated that he’d done this to his friends, to Annabeth, to his parents.

“You didn’t fucking run away, did you?” she demanded.

“No,” he assured her. “I hate that I was missing so long. I wish none of it had ever happened, but there wasn’t much I could do for a long time.”

“Alright. I can wait.”

Percy nodded. “Do you want a cookie? My mom and I made peanut butter and ginger snaps. And Paul made enough coffee for everyone this morning.”

Anya stared at him. “What, just like we’re having a fucking playdate?”

Percy smiled. This was why he loved Anya. “Generally, the kids didn’t get caffeine at my playdates, but besides that, yeah.”

Anya snorted. “Then why did you get some today?” she quipped. 

Just a fast, Percy replied, “I’m traumatized. They make exceptions. It’s like those signs about kids who get left behind at hospitals.”

There was a beat of silence while they decided if it was too much too soon. Percy held his breath. Anya was a difficult person to read, and even harder to build trust with. And she was always quick to hide behind some scathing remark or mean joke. It struck him that she would have gotten along well with Leo Valdez. Well, or they would have hated each other. 

Anya quirked a smile. “You’re such a fucking asshole, Percy. Jesus fuck, I don’t know what to even say to you right now.”

He let out a sigh. They were alright. “It’s okay,” he said. “There’s no wrong response. I’ve been doing a lot of this lately. It’s sort of like you go through the stages of grief again.”

“Does that give me permission to scream at you, then?”

Percy laughed. God, he loved Anya. “Yeah, if that’s what you need. Whatever helps you to get through it.”

Anya stared at her cookie. “That’s what I’m supposed to tell you,” she said quietly.

“I’m okay. I’m gonna start seeing someone. And I have mom and Paul. And Annabeth,” he said, feeling a bit awkward.

“Annabeth?” she asked, incredulous.

“Oh, yeah, my girlfriend. We, uh, got together the summer before- last summer. She’s transferring to Goode,” he explained sheepishly.

“Holy shit. That girl’s been through hell, hasn’t she?” Anya blurted.

He flinched. Anya had no idea how right she was. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “She doesn’t deserve the last year she’s had.”

“Neither do you.”

They shared a look. They weren’t the kind of people to express genuine emotions very often, so it meant a lot. 

“Thanks, Anya. You don’t deserve it either.”

“Dumbass. I know that.”

They drank their coffee amiably. Anya had two more ginger snaps. Percy had some grapes from the fridge. 

Josh showed up next. 

“I don’t believe it,” he said when Percy released him from a hug. Like Anya, he’d started crying. His glasses were all fogged, and he had to take them off before he could get a good look at his best friend. Unlike anyway, though, he was smiling through the tears. 

“Hey, man. I’m really sorry about this last year.”

“I’m so happy you’re alive. And you’re okay. Fuck, I was so scared that something awful happened,” Josh sobbed. They hugged again. When they finally let go, Josh’s eyes were bright red and puffy, and Percy’s shirt had a big wet spot on the shoulder.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I ruined it,” he said.

“It’s okay,” Percy replied. “It’s just water. I’ll just go change really fast.”

He slipped away into his room. He had a feeling Anya and Josh would want a moment to talk to each other. After all, they were probably each other’s support system when he’d been missing. This way they could regroup. Josh needed someone to lean on. Anya needed someone to look after, as permission to look after herself.

He chucked the dirty shirt in the laundry basket, and found another one. The only other button-down shirt that fit him was one he’d gotten in the mail on his birthday. It had tiny pastel shells all over it, and it fit him perfectly. There was no note, but it had come with a Drachma. In a fit of anger, Percy used it to IM Tyson instead. He wasn’t ready to talk to Poseidon yet. Now, though, he put the shirt on. It made him look older. 

Jesse was there when he walked back into the kitchen. Her head snapped around to him so fast that she almost lost her balance. 

“Fuck.”

“Yeah,” said Anya. Josh sniffled.

“Hi, Jess. It’s good to see you,” Percy managed.

“Anya, I think I’m hallucinating,” she said frantically.

“You aren’t. He’s really there,” Anya replied

“I really am here,” Percy agreed.

There was another round of hugging. First, Jessie squeezed him so tight that all his breath came rushing out. Then, Josh joined in. After a moment, Josh pulled Anya over into the group. “Come here, you grouch. You’re part of the group too.”

“Just because I don’t want to group hug-”

“I’ve missed you guys. So much. You have no idea.”

Josh sniffled. Jessie started crying. Anya choked painfully. 

“Okay, I’m going to die if I ruin another one of your shirts,” Josh said wetly.

The released. 

“How about some coffee?” Percy offered. There was general assent. Jessie laughed slightly hysterically, so Percy made hers first. Once everyone had a mug of coffee, and Anya and himself each had a refill, the awkwardness started to set in.

“Okay, I need to know. What happened? Where were you? How the fuck are you not dead?” Anya asked. 

“Anya!” Josh hissed, while at the same time Jessie said, “Jesus fuck, Anya!”

“It’s fine. That’s part of the reason why I wanted you guys to come over. I need to explain myself,” Percy admitted. 

You don’t need to say anything if you aren’t comfortable,” Josh said kindly. 

“I know!” he said hastily. “But, you guys deserve to know the truth. And I need to talk about it anyway. I need you guys to know. Let’s sit down, though.”

They moved to the living room. His three friends shared the loveseat couch, while Percy sat on the ottoman opposite them. This was going to be difficult, he knew. He didn’t want to lie to his friends, but he wanted to be careful about how much he revealed. It was not the right time to explain about Greek gods still existing in the mortal world. That was for another time, when things had settled down a bit. 

“First, I want to warn you that I don’t totally remember some things. My memory isn’t really reliable lately, and I’ve already noticed a bunch of gaps I have. A lot of this I figured out from what other people have told me. And, well, a lot of stuff from last fall is gone too. So, if I have trouble remembering certain stuff, give me a break. It’s still coming back. Hopefully I’ll get all of it. 

“I don’t remember what happened when I was first taken. The last thing that’s really clear is finishing exams at the end of term, and I’ve lost a ton of stuff from around then, too, so we have no idea when exactly I first went missing. But Annabeth was supposed to meet me during winter break, and that was when she first realized I wasn’t around. This was about two days into break. 

“What I do know is that my biological dad’s sister-in-law was involved. She’s never been the most stable person, and it wasn’t a really good time for anyone on that side of the family. They’re all really… unbalanced. And my dad obviously couldn’t help me out. But, well, mom and I think he was probably like that too.

“Anyway, whatever she did to me, she got me out of New York. She made me lose my memory. We think, well, we think it was drugs. Something to make it so I couldn’t form memories, and probably to make me sleep too. Because the next I knew, I was in California, and I was alone on the streets and I had no idea who I was. That was in March. But, well, I don’t think anything that bad happened for those months. For all I know, I was sleeping.

“Anyway, I was sort of near San Francisco, and pretty quick I found a youth center that took me is. They couldn’t find me in any records, so I stayed there for a while. It was pretty alright. I was safe there, at least. In the end, I did a lot of work for them. Community service and stuff like that. They liked that I was big and athletic, so I had a couple of buddies for a while. Plus, my memory was coming back in swatches, so they were pretty hopeful that I’d remember where I came from. I was lucky. It was pretty obvious I wasn’t always homeless.

“Sometime around April, I saw my Aunt again. I don’t know how, but I just knew that it was her, and I just- I didn’t feel safe at the shelter. So, I left. I hitch hiked across the country for a while with some friends. I spent a while in the south – you know, Atlanta, Charleston.

“I – I can’t really talk about it. There were some times then, erm, while I was with those friends, well, I got separated for a while, and it was pretty rough. I didn’t really know if I’d get out alive, and if it wasn’t for Annabeth… I’m still trying to come to terms with it.”

Percy had to pause to get his breathing under control. Most of this was okay for him to talk about, but if he started thinking too hard about Tartarus... He fought down an impending spiral. Jessie sat next to him, and took his hand. “It’s okay,” she said softly. 

“I’m okay, really. I just needed a second. I’ve had to tell this story… well, I’ve told it a few times, between my parents, and the police, and my counselor. And it’s just been a really shitty year,” he explained weakly.

“I feel that,” Anya agreed. 

“Yeah, I’m sure you guys have been through a lot too. But, well, I just went through a lot when Annabeth found me. And she had been kicked out of her house, and we really had to have each other’s backs for a while. Eventually, through our camp, we got back home. Annabeth’s been living there, but she’s coming to Goode in the fall, which is really great, and I’ve been reconnecting with everyone. Letting them know I’m not dead. Apologizing for hurting them. It’s just been really hard lately, and I’m really glad to see you guys.”

Percy looked at his hands. He wasn’t sure if he’d done a decent job or not. He wasn’t sure if he’d stayed on script to the official story, and he hadn’t meant to get so choked up. He felt a lot better, though, now that it was over with. 

Josh stood up. He took Percy’s hand and squeezed it tight. “We missed you too, Perce. And we love you. And you didn’t deserve any of that,” he said fiercely.

“You can count on us,” Jessie said, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “We’re always here for you. No matter what. We’ll always support you.”

“And if anyone messes with you, if they so much as make you uncomfortable, we will fuck them up. We got your back, Percy. After all the times you’ve had ours, we’ve got you,” Anya declared.

“And second that for the entire basketball team,” Josh added. 

“Thanks guys. Really, thanks. I’m really glad you came over. Plus, well, Mrs. Gibbs has to send out some mass email telling everyone that I’m back home and that I’m all traumatized, so they shouldn’t bother me. Obviously, that doesn’t apply to you guys,” he amended, with a slight smile.

“Obviously.”

“Wait,” said Jessie skeptically. “She’s sending out a mass email saying that you were mysteriously traumatized, and then asking nicely that no one ask you about it? Is she insane?”

Percy shrugged. “She has to,” he explained. “She can’t have parents getting information from the student gossip. There needs to be an official statement so nobody freaks out and thinks I was in prison or something.”

“That’s bullshit,” Anya replied. “It’ll just make people more curious about you.”

“Yep,” Percy agreed.


	4. Annabeth and Percy Talk it Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else feel like Percy went a little... dark in HoO?

On Saturday, Percy met Annabeth at Goode to help her move in. Technically, move-in wasn’t until Sunday, but students could start unpacking their things all weekend, just so long as they had somewhere to go Saturday night. Initially Annabeth was going to stay the night at a hotel, but Sally wouldn’t hear of it. So, after they unloaded a large rucksack of clothes and they set out her boarding-school-bedding, Percy drove her back to his apartment.

“Annabeth!” cried Sally from the kitchen as they opened the door. “Sweetheart, come here!”

The two women embraced tightly. It was very sweet, but it left Percy standing a bit awkwardly in the entrance. He put Annabeth’s backpack into his room for the night (he would be sleeping on the coach, since that’s where he usually ended up anyway).

When he re-entered the kitchen-living room area, his mother pulled him into their now daily hug. It still felt as amazing as it did five weeks ago, but it was just starting to feel normal, too. “I love you, mom,” he blurted, somewhat spontaneously. Then, glancing at Annabeth, he felt his face heat up.

“Awe, I love you too, honey,” Sally said, giving him a huge kiss on the cheek, which was probably bright red at this point. He averted his gaze from his totally cool girlfriend.

She rolled her eyes, still smiling. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about loving your mom, Seaweed Brain. It’s sweet. Besides, you can’t not love her.”

That really did make Percy smile. He still held the personal belief that his mom was the single best person on the planet, and he was thrilled when other people agreed with him. That was one of the reasons he had agreed to let Paul be part of their family. Through all the chaos of gods and monsters and war, the guy always prioritized his mom. He could tell Annabeth already had the same perspective.

“Anyway,” he said, because this conversation would not become less embarrassing, “what’s for dinner, mom? Can we do anything to help?”

Sally smiled at her son, but she shook her head. “That’s sweet, but I know you want to spend time with Annabeth before school starts. Go ahead.”

“You are the best mom. Ever.”

Paul laughed at that, but Percy didn’t care. He stood up on the spot and grabbed Annabeth’s hand. He shamelessly led his girlfriend to his room while his parents snickered.

“Door open!” Sally called after him.

“Okay!” Percy called back, already down the hallway.

Annabeth was slightly pink when Percy shoved a sneaker in the door to keep it open, and then plopped down on the bed.

“Somehow this is so much more embarrassing than Coach Hedge lecturing us,” she admitted.

“Well, Hedge isn’t exactly intimidating. My mom, though… Yeah, I see what you mean. But don’t worry. They won’t interrupt us as long as we come out for dinner.”

“Oh, really?” Annabeth said lightly. “And what is it they might be interrupting?”

Now Percy blushed. “I didn’t mean- Just forget I said anything.”

“Too bad,” she fake-sighed. “I was looking forward to getting you alone. We could always go over course schedules for Monday, though.”

“Gods. You’ll be the death of me,” Percy sighed. Before she could come up with a clever response, he kissed her. Thoroughly.

Several minutes later, he came up for air and they were breathing heavily. His heart was racing. Annabeth’s eyes were dilated and somewhat dazed. It would have been an odd look for her if she didn’t look so sexy. He ran his hand through her hair, playing with a particular curl at the end.

“Hello,” he breathed.

“Hello,” she answered, pecking him on the lips. Her lips pulled his for just a second before she pulled back.

“I missed you,” he admitted.

She paused. “I missed you too.” Percy could hear the ‘but’ that she didn’t want to say.

“Hey,” he murmured. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“No…” she said uncertainly. “I mean, well, yes, but I’m not sure how to say it right.”

“Please, just try to tell me. Lately we’ve felt so… disconnected. Almost awkward,” he said. “If something’s wrong, let’s just get through it. Anything’s better than letting whatever it is just stew in the air.”

“Gods, Percy,” Annabeth sighed.

“What? Did I say too much?” he asked nervously.

“No!” She grabbed his hand to reassure him. “It’s just, have I ever told you that you’re really smart? Because you are. Honestly, sometimes you sound as wise as my mother.”

“It’s your influence,” he said easily.

“It’s not, though. It’s you. And you’re right. We should just talk about it,” she allowed.

Percy sat up a bit straighter on his bed, and shifted back a bit, so he could see her properly. “Okay. I’m listening. What’s going on?”

“Well, I think part of the problem is that we never really talked about it. You know, about Tartarus.”

“Oh,” he said, deflating a bit. “Yeah, I guess I just thought it was fine, since we were both there. Like I don’t need to explain about it to you.”

Annabeth nodded. “I get that,” she accepted. “But sometimes I feel like you were a completely different person down there. And we were both so focused on staying alive that we didn’t even really talk that much.”

“What do you mean?” he asked in genuine confusion. “We were fighting. We’ve done it a million times before, and we’ve always been on the same page.”

Annabeth held a breath in for a moment. “It’s like, how when we fought Chrysaor. I could tell it bothered you because I _know _you. But so much happened at once, and so much of it was so big and it brought up a lot from the past, and I didn't always feel like I knew what was going on in your head. And we never talked about it.”

Percy fidgeted with his comforter. “Yeah. I know what you mean. It’s just hard to talk about it. I don’t even want to think about it. I just get so _angry._”

Annabeth nodded, but he wondered if she really understood that feeling. It was like his whole life was a betrayal. Lately, he'd been thinking about fairness, about being a hero. Almost all the time he felt like the narrative he'd been told, that you work hard to be a hero and get rewards, was a complete lie. It was a difficult feeling to verbalize, and an even harder one to control.

She seemed to sense the disconnect from his words and his thoughts, because she said, “I think we need to talk, though. It feels like it’s standing in the way of our relationship. Sometimes I feel like we’ve been changed too much by Tartarus. Like we’ve been broken.”

“We haven’t been,” Percy insisted.

“I know,” she assured him. “But it’s like a seed has been planted, and we can’t get rid of it. And I think it’ll destroy us unless we talk about it.”

“Okay. But how do we do that? I don’t really want to go to couple’s therapy or anything like that,” Percy said somewhat bitterly.

“Me neither,” she agreed.

“So…”

“We just let it happen. When it comes up in your head, don’t push it down. Just tell me,” she suggested.

“Okay. But like right now…” he trailed off awkwardly.

“Right now, I just want to kiss you while I can, and then eat dinner and watch a movie with your parents like I’m part of the family.”

Percy brightened. “I can make that happen,” he said happily.

Sally knocked _very _loudly on the door. It was still partially open, but she still waited a full ten seconds before she pushed it open. When she did, the two teenagers were sitting at opposite ends of the bed. All clothes were in place, and Percy had a laptop open on his knees. Still, though, the comforter looked extremely rumpled.

“Dinner’s ready,” she said to Percy.

He nodded. “Okay, sounds good.”

Annabeth nodded too, but there was a definite blush on her face. “It smells amazing, Sally,” she said graciously.

“Thank you, Annabeth. Why don’t we go set the table? Then, Percy can be on dish duty.”

“Sounds good.”

The girl got up easily. She ruffled Percy’s hair the way that he never let Sally do it anymore, and left the room.

Back in the kitchen, she counted out silverware from the drawer without prompting, while Sally got glasses and plates. It was odd to see Annabeth so happy, but it certainly reflected her own attitude lately.

“Sometimes it just feels too good to be true, that he’s home,” Sally admitted to the teenager.

“I know what you mean. I keep expecting to turn around and for him to be gone,” she replied.

Sally grasped her hand and squeezed. She thought of the girl she’d been when Percy was missing; frantic, hopeless, living on a knife’s edge of constant worry and fleeting hope. She was none of those things now, but she wasn’t exactly unchanged, either. There was a haunted quality to her.

“How are you doing, Annabeth? Really? Percy’s had such a hard time since he got home.”

“I… I don’t know,” she admitted. “Sometimes I just feel so happy that it’s all over. That I can relax. Except that I don’t really believe that it is over. I thought it was after the Titan war, but then this happened and it’s been just as awful. And the gods... they were supposed to protect us mortals. They didn’t do that. I don’t think I can trust them anymore. I don’t trust anything anymore.”

Sally felt tears well up, so she hugged the girl before she could see them. It was all so unfair.

“You deserve a rest,” she said. “You’ve done your duty. You saved the world. Twice. You are going to get to finish growing up. You’ll go to college. And if the Universe explodes, the other demigods can take care of it.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Annabeth said. “The next demigods are kids. Some of them are no older than Percy and I were when this all started. How can I let them go through what I did?”

Sally nodded. Annabeth was too good a person to be done with the hero-business for good. “You can’t save everyone,” she advised. “So, don’t try to. Do what you can, but do it on your own agenda. You can refuse a quest for your own wellbeing. That counts as saving someone too.”

“I know, Sally. But, thanks. It helps to hear it out loud.”

“Any time, sweetheart.”

They ate dinner like family. After all, that’s what they were. Annabeth felt like she’d finally found an uncomplicated relationship with adults in her life. Everyone joked and teased, but they were respectful while Paul said Grace (Percy and Sally were deeply unreligious). Percy cleaned dishes while Sally poured wine for herself and Paul, and cocoa for the teenagers. (“We’ll see about wine when you’re both eighteen,” Paul allowed.) Afterwards, they all settled on and around the couch and watched a movie (Roman Holiday, at Annabeth’s request). There was popcorn and lots of blankets, and they all ended up chatting until much too late.

Finally, Sally set Annabeth up with a towel for a shower in the morning, and they fitted sheets on the couch cushions for Percy. Annabeth fell asleep faster than she ever had in her life, and when nightmares inevitably claimed her, it took only a brief moment for her to calm down and drift back asleep when she remembered where she was.

The next morning, Annabeth woke up late to the sound of Paul leaving for work. She groggily realized it was almost 9. That was much later than she ever slept at camp. She breathed deeply, and stood up in one big movement. Best not to linger in bed. She padded into the kitchen.

Percy and Sally were sitting in the living room, each nursing a cup of coffee. “Hey, Annabeth,” he greeted her, smiling. She was surprised to see he had slight bags under his eyes.

“Oh, good, you’re up. Looks like you slept well,” Sally observed over her laptop.

She nodded as a yawn traveled up her chest to her mouth. “AHhhh. Sorry, yes. I slept great. It was nice.”

“Excellent. Well, Percy made blueberry pancakes if you want to reheat some, and we have coffee, tea, cereal…” Sally trailed off, trying to think of any other breakfast food their cluttered apartment might have.

“I’ll just get myself some tea. Do you have-”

“Lemons are in the fruit bowl. Feel free to slice a new one,” she answered with a smile.

Annabeth smiled. Afternoon tea had been a regularity for them when Percy was missing. It was a much nicer hospitality when he was sitting in the same room as them, though. “Thanks.”

She made her tea the way she liked it – milky, with lemon and sugar – and came and sat down next to Percy on the couch. She pecked him on the cheek. “Morning.”

“Morning,” he smiled. “I have to say, I’m a little weirded out that my mom knows your tea order better than I do.”

“Don’t worry, you can share me,” she teased.

“Just so long as I can have her on Sundays. Those are baking days,” Sally interjected.

“Great,” said Percy. “Just when I thought I’d have you to myself.”

“Oh, Seaweed Brain, don’t you know I’m only dating you for your family?” she joked. She and Sally shared a smile.

“Well, there are worse reasons,” he allowed. “Gods forbid you do it because you _like me_.”

“Exactly,” Annabeth agreed in a formal tone. “What kind of person dates for personal happiness? It’s all about the perks.”

“Alright, you two, give it a rest,” Sally interjected. “I know you have to be adorable, but there’s only so much a mother can take.”

Percy caught Annabeth’s eye and grinned mischievously. She grinned right back. “Oh, but Sally, _darling_, surely you’re familiar with the social graces of dating one for their family?”

“Mother, of course you do! Why, it’s only the most sensible way to go about relationships in this day and age,” Percy added, putting on a horrible faux-British accent.

Sally rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I even try,” she sighed.


	5. Goode Orientation, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and his friends try to adjust to being back at school. We get a bit of backstory on the gang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter actually really hurt to write. Sorry if it reads awkwardly, but I sort of just needed to get through it to get to some excellent Annabeth moments. Also, if the timeline seems weird, that's because it is. In the original series, Percy would be going into Junior year at the age of seventeen. I guess it all makes sense if you consider that Percy's mom probably kept him an extra year in preschool (very common for kids born in the summer or early fall), but I really don't want to write Junior and Senior year. This effectively means that Percy spent an extra year at Goode at some point, but honestly it's best if you just don't look too hard.

The first day of orientation at Goode Academy was always an exercise in organized chaos, and this year was no different, even for the seniors, who had done the same routine for as many as six years before. It was simply awkward to transition from summer to school, especially on a Sunday.

Luckily, though, most of the upperclassmen didn’t have to bother with the typical tour and teacher meet-and-greet that new students went through. So, after a brief welcome speech from the head of school, they were free to wander around and chat until various athletic meetings started and final textbook lists were distributed in a few hours.

Unfortunately for Percy, that meant he had to separate from Annabeth, who was required to go on the tour, but it did give him an opportunity to seek out his friends.

“Sooo, where’s the girlfriend, Percy, my friend?” Josh asked, waggling his eyebrows horribly.

“Nice to see you too, Josh,” he replied dryly. “How was your summer?

“Excellent, since I found out my best friend is alive and well. Come on! Where is she?”

“She’s with the Freshies,” said Anya, appearing behind Josh, seemingly out of nowhere. It wasn’t that hard; Anya was almost two feet shorter than Josh. “Remember, she’s a new student. She’ll be doing the tour, right?”

“Yeah,” Percy answered. “Probably better that way, though. I don’t want her to be overwhelmed by you guys.”

“What!” gasped Josh. “How are we overwhelming?”

Percy rolled his eyes. “Like that. You are the most dramatic person I know. And I’ve met the god of Drama. Plus, well, Anya can be a bit…”

“Crass? Tactless? Mean?” Josh suggested, bumping Anya, who just glared at him.

“I was going to say honest,” Percy finished piously.

“Yeah, right, asshole,” Anya replied. It was undermined when she hugged him, though. Anya had always been the sort of person to express her feeling through physical affection.

“What about me?” Jessie said from right behind then.

Percy jumped on the spot, and his hand immediately went to riptide in his pocket. “Jesus! Fuck, guys, can we have a rule about not sneaking up on me? Please.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, Perce,” Jessie said, startled herself. Everyone held their breath.

“It’s fine.”

“But what about me? What’s my trait? What are we talking about?” she pressed on.

“How_overwhelming_we can be. To Annabeth. The girlfriend,” Josh explained.

“I know who Annabeth is, Josh. You don’t need to spell it out. I was there too,” Jessie grumbled.

“I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just that we’ve been friends for so long,” Percy pointed out. “You guys are all so close. And you know all of my business. It can be a bit difficult for other people to talk to us sometimes, with all the inside jokes.”

Anya stared at him. “Are you serious?” she asked dubiously.

“Yeah!” Percy said, already feeling defensive.

“We know all of your business? Really?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, you’re some of the oldest friends I have,” he explained.

Anya shook her head. It was the same way Annabeth did when he was being an idiot. “Percy,” she started. “You are the single most mysterious, confusing person on the entire planet. I don’t know anything about most of your life. And, just when I think I do know something about you, I find out that you actually have a dog, or that Mr. Blofis is actually your stepdad, or you were apparently dating Rachel Dare for a while, or that you’ve been going to some weird Illuminati summer camp your whole life. I honestly can’t think of anyone whose business I know less of. Definitely not anyone who I’ve known for almost three years.”

“Oh,” Percy replied. “Wow. I didn’t realize I was so secretive. It doesn’t feel like that to me.”

Jessie rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how you can be so smart and so dumb at the same time, Perce. It must be your greatest gift.”

“Nah, I think it’s just years of practice,” Josh explained happily.

“Whatever, guys.”

“Come on, let’s go raid the vending machines downstairs,” Anya said. “They won’t restock with the good stuff until Parents Weekend.”

The problem with that, though, was that at least a hundred other Seniors and Juniors had had the same idea, and so there was a mess of too many people in a small hallway by the science labs (a dumb place for a vending machine, since there was no food allowed in the labs) and nowhere to sit.

The second problem was that at least sixty people were seeing Percy for the first time since he’d mysteriously disappeared. It didn’t help that they were forbidden from asking him what happened, making everyone extremely curious. Within ten seconds of showing up, the noise of teenagers chatting was completely snuffed out, replaced only by murmured questions and gossip.

“Uhh…” Percy said, unsure of how to respond to the situation. Everyone was staring at him.

“Just ignore them,” Josh said steadfastly. “It’ll go away soon enough.”

“Percy! Dude!”

He turned to see a familiar pair of faces from the basketball team. “Marco! Junior! What’s up, guys?”

The three of them, plus Josh, who was also on the team, all fist bumped. There was an awkward moment when it looked like Junior, a black, Puerto Rican kid who, according to some quick math, was a junior (ha!), wanted to hug him. Josh got to him first, though, and gave Percy a side-hug that very clearly spelled _back off_.

Marco, who was slightly more sensible, said, “Hey, man. It’s really good to see you! We thought you were gone for good or something.”

Percy rubbed his neck nervously. “Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. It’s good to see you guys too.”

There was an awkward silence, and the guys seemed to be eyeing Josh uneasily. Josh himself didn’t react, but he also seemed determined to stay out of the conversation. Finally, Junior blurted out, “Wait, so where were you last year? Everyone’s wondering.”

“Oh. Eh, I don’t really…”

“He doesn’t want to talk about it,” said Josh coldly. There was a definite edge to his voice, and Percy knew that something unrelated to him was making the conversation weird.

Junior shrunk. He darted a glance to his friend, then said, “Oh, right.” The kid was six-foot-three, but he completely deflated under Josh’s gaze. “I just meant-”

“It’s okay,” said Percy hastily. He really didn’t want to make a scene, and even though the noise had returned, he still felt like thirty people were watching him out of the corner of their eyes. Junior and Marco at least were watching him with hungry eyes. Whatever he said would end up in the basketball gossip mill in no time. Percy tried to hide just how bothered he was when he told them, “It’s just that I’d really rather not talk about it, guys.”

“That’s alright, dude,” said Marco, disappointed. “But, you’re okay, though, right?”

“Yeah, man. I’m alright,” Percy assured him.

“Good. You gonna be on the team this year?”

“Hope so. Just as long as I keep my grades up,” Percy confirmed.

“Good. We’ll see you around, then.”

Josh scowled deeper, and actually nudged Percy with his shoulder to start turning away.

“Yeah, see ya,” he said over his shoulder, a bit confused.

The two left, Marco muttering rapidly to Junior.

Anya decided to butt in, then. “Is it over? Can we move past the testosterone fest? Please?”

Josh scowled at her, but Percy smiled. “I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, Anya. We’re just saying hello.”

“You did a bro-shake. Your voice got deeper. It’s a testosterone fest,” she replied, matter-of-factly.

“That’s so true!” said Jessie. “That’s actually a really good way to categorize it.”

Uninterested in the categorization of bro-shakes, he turned away from the girls and led his best friend to the second vending machine line to ask, “Hey, what was that? Are you mad at Junior, or something?”

“What? No. I mean, well, I don’t really want to talk about it,” Josh admitted. His eyebrows knitted together like he was caught up in a story, but he didn’t reveal anything.

Percy felt like it would be a bit unfair not to honor Josh’s wishes, so he said, “Oh. Okay, that’s fine.” He did his best not to feel hurt. After all, Josh had had a life for almost nine months while Percy was away. Neither of them spoke until they got their snacks (Oreos, Cokes, M&Ms, Taki’s, etc.).

“Hey, I’m feeling a bit like a zoo animal. Can we go to the steps?” Percy asked the group amiably.

“Ohhh, yeah. We haven’t been there in so long. Better claim it before some sophomores come around,” Jessie said excitedly.

“It’ll be nice to go there and not be depressed,” Anya admitted.

Once the four of them settled into their regular spot by the side-entrance to the building, things started to feel like normal again. As usual, they laid out all their food and grouped the snacks that were really meant to be eaten together (M&Ms with pretzels, Taki’s with Coke, Oreos in the place of honor). In no time, they were talking about schedules and classes and all the terrible teachers they were hoping not to get. Anya and Josh discussed how weird it was going to be to have Mr. Blofis for AP Lit., and Percy laughed when Jessie explained that Mr. Frumpy had gone on for weeks about how upset he was by Percy’s disappearance.

“He actually said he had a ‘special bond’ with you,” she described, imitating his raspy voice perfectly.

“Wish he’d felt that way before he tried to fail me in Algebra.”

Josh proceeded to retell one of their old stories about how they’d set Mr. Frumpy’s computer to display his password when he logged in, so the entire class of 9thgraders had seen it. It was a good one, complete with voices for the infamous teacher and their 14-year-old selves. The best part was that it made Jessie launch into her latest list of the most ridiculous things she’d recorded them saying over the last three years. Percy, having missed the context in which they were actually said, laughed the hardest of anyone.

All the while, parents and new students wandered past them. Some of them were clearly lost, but no one came over to ask for help. Percy wondered if the Senior vibe was actually a real thing that was setting in.

A bit later, Josh got up to go to the bathroom, and Percy suddenly remembered that he had a burning question about his best friend. He turned to Jessie, imploring, “Hey, Jess, what’s up with Josh and Marco? Did they get into a fight or something?”

Jessie froze. “Uhhh…”

“Oh, that’s a touchy topic, Jackson,” Anya warned him. “Josh still gets in moods about it sometimes.”

Percy felt himself growing even more curious. At the same time, he felt a slight sense of dread. He could take a guess at the one thing that might upset Josh enough to not want to talk about it months later. He wasn’t sure, though, and he didn’t want to reveal anything to Anya and Jessie that Josh didn’t want them to know.

Carefully, he said, “It isn’t about… something relating to Josh’s romantic life, is it?”

The girls stared bug-eyed. Anya gave Jessie a look. Jessie gave it right back.

“Actually, never mind,” Percy backtracked quickly.

“No, I’m sorry. We just didn’t know you knew. I mean, well, you’re talking about him being gay, right?” Jessie said, fumbling on her speech. She sounded a bit conspiratorial, which Percy thought was overkill.

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure if you guys knew,” he explained.

“I can’t believe _you _knew,” Anya replied. “I mean, what the actual fuck. Did he tell you?”

Percy suddenly felt like he was talking behind Josh’s back. He answered, “Yeah. He told me in ninth grade. Just when I was leaving for the summer. I think he’d just figured it out.”

“Oh. Well, that’s cool. I’m glad he had you to turn to,” Jessie said, obviously offended.

“I don’t think he even meant to tell me,” Percy tried to explain. “It was just such a weird time, and neither of us really had any other friends…”

“I was your friend!” Jessie protested. Anya didn’t say anything, but she looked angry too.

“Well, yeah,” he allowed. “But we didn’t really talk that much. And a bunch of other guys on the basketball team were always saying shitty things about gay guys. I think it was mostly a 14-year-old thing, but Josh didn’t feel comfortable with his other friends. And we didn’t all start hanging out until a lot later. Besides, I think he was really embarrassed that he told me. He didn’t like it if I brought it up until basically last year.”

Jessie took a moment to take that all in. She finally said, “Yeah, I get that. Anyway, we didn’t find out until last year. That’s why Josh is so mad at Marco. He was part of the group that outed him.”

“What the fuck!”

“It was pretty much a shit-storm,” Anya replied. She stared off into space, clearly remembering the particular events.

Percy thought of Josh’s reaction to everyone staring at him. It was surprisingly level-headed. He wondered what it must have felt like, for everyone to know his deepest, most dangerous secret. Percy could pick out a million times when he’d been the outsider in a community, but never among the people he’d gone to school with for years.

He said, “So, wait, does everyone know? The whole school?”

Jessie shrugged. “Pretty much. I mean, a ton of underclassmen don’t, but everyone on the basketball team knows for sure. And pretty much everyone in our year. It was terrible.”

Anya muttered, “Understatement.”

“But what happened? Did his parents find out?”

“…Yeah,” Jessie said cautiously. “And they were actually really okay with it, but they freaked out at the school. Claimed he was being bullied, and then everyone involved had to meet with Mrs. Gibbs. It just made everything worse.”

“Who was it? What did they do?” Percy asked, burning with curiosity.

Jessie opened her mouth to start the story, but Anya actually elbowed her. “Ouch, Anya!”

“You can’t tell that story,” Anya said, ignoring the other girl rubbing her arm. “Josh should get the final say. It’s really personal, Percy, and it sounds like Josh doesn’t want you to know just yet. We have to respect that.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “I can live with that. Thanks for telling me that much, though. We’ll just have to be here for him, obviously.”

When Josh rejoined them, they had already switched to a new topic, and were starting to attempt to pick out the freshmen from the people walking around in the parking lot, hastily grabbing last minute things before athletic meetings started.


	6. Goode Orientation, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth meets an adult who actually wants to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably many mistakes on this chapter, but I operate without a beta. Feel free to inform me of any problems grammatical or otherwise.

It was three and a half hours after they’d shown up at Goode that Annabeth was finally released from the endless information sessions. Stupidly, she’d signed up to meet with every one of her teachers, and only realized after meeting with the AP Language teacher that no self-respecting upperclassmen met with anyone. Still, though, she’d put her name down, so it was up to her to show up.

By the time she was done with all the meetings, Percy was already in an initial practice with the returning varsity basketball players. She knew he had two friends who would be hanging out around the school somewhere, but she felt awkward introducing herself without him. She didn’t want another New Rome situation on her hands.

Even though Goode was just High School, and not an army of Romans, it still felt a bit hostile. Maybe she was just cynical. After all, if anyone had an excuse to feel that way, it was her.

So, instead of tracking down Percy’s friends, or, gods forbid, Paul, she simply wandered the halls a while, introducing herself to the occasional Senior or teacher who asked. It was nice. Goode really was a nice school, with tall ceilings that had huge skylights set into them. The main academic building had two floors and a basement full of labs, but the upper floor was only a balcony that lead into classrooms, so there was lots of open space in the various entrance halls. It wasn’t a very complicated design, but it went a long way towards making the place feel open and welcoming.

She still had some reservations about being here, though.

She’d convinced Chiron to allow her to move to Goode in an effort to make up for lost time with Percy. After everything that had happened in the last year, it felt like they needed some serious down time together. But, lately, she just couldn’t manage to relax.

It was fine when Percy was around. More than fine, actually. He had lately come to represent her entire concept of safety and security. It was almost like a charm; when they were together, she knew that no matter what happened, they could face it. But without him, she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder. Every nook looked like a hiding spot for a monster. Every new person had the chance of being a Roman spy. Worst of all, she was constantly afraid some goddess she’d infuriated was going to come banging on her door and ruin the delicate pieces of her life she’d managed to fit back together.

Hera, after all, could easily come and kidnap her boyfriend again. Hecate was personally angry with everyone who’d been on the quest to Greece. Aphrodite herself admitted to having a vested interest in Annabeth’s emotional suffering. And, worst of all, her very own mother, Athena, was poised to uproot her life in strange and horrible ways if she so liked. It was enough to make anyone jumpy.

Even deeper than her inability to trust the security in her life, though, Annabeth felt unstable to her very core. She was pretty sure she was still more or less sane, but the fundamental pillars that held up her life felt like they were crumbling down. The main problem was that she didn’t feel like a hero anymore. Or, rather, she felt like the entire concept of being a hero was a lie, and it left her with surprisingly little identity left.

Who was she, if not the daring, battle-strategist daughter of Athena? Did she even like architecture, or was that just the influence of growing up in the Athena cabin? Was she even a good person? Annabeth knew what Percy would tell her, and that was reassuring, but it wasn’t enough. Deep down, she felt like she didn’t even know who she was.

It was these thoughts that led her to walk straight past the open office of Dr. Daniel Rodriguez. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she did not even notice that the office was occupied, let alone that the man had waved to her.

“Hello!”

She whipped around, hand on her spear. A tall, middle-aged man stood about a three feet behind her in the hallway. He was wearing business clothes and his black hair was lightly dusted with grey. His hands were in the air, but he didn’t seem alarmed. Annabeth took a deep breath.

“Uh, hi. Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” she said awkwardly.

“It’s okay,” he said graciously. “You must be Annabeth. Chiron told me you were coming. I’m Dr. Rodriguez.”

She sagged her shoulder a bit. _Great,_ she though bitterly. _My Neo-Roman babysitter. _All she said, though, was, “Oh.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m guessing Chiron told you he wanted us to meet, then?”

She nodded.

“Right. Well, why don’t you come sit down and have some tea? Maybe you can explain the way you see the situation, and we can adjust the plan,” he offered kindly.

Annabeth scrutinized him. He was different from what she’d expected. For one thing, his smile seemed to come easy, and he didn’t give off the hyper-bureaucratic vibe that most of the professionals did in New Rome. She still didn’t trust him, though. More than likely, he would listen to her side of the story for about five seconds before declaring her a child who didn’t know what was good for her, and the property of the Twelfth Legion.

“I have jasmine,” he wheedled.

She sighed, and decided that she might as well get it over with. “Fine,” she said disagreeably.

There was a bit of activity while Dr. Rodriguez made tea and cleared out a place for her to sit, so Annabeth got a good look at his office. Despite being large for an office classroom, it was cluttered, and there were several unopened boxes that he must have shipped across the country. Several cushy chairs were pushed off to the side and still wrapped in plastic, and a filing cabinet was surrounded by neat piles of papers and folders. So, he hadn’t meant to meet with anyone today, of else he would have at least filed away what she guessed were somewhat confidential documents.

What he did have out, though, were a bunch of woven tapestries and rugs with complex geometric designs. There was one framed bit of cloth that particularly captured her attention. It was a tessellation – a repeated pattern of shapes – but the irregularity of it gave the flat cloth the impression of depth and perspective.

“I love that one,” Rodriguez said as he set down a steaming mug of jasmine tea.

“Was it made in New Rome?” Annabeth asked a little jealously. For all it’s faults, she couldn’t deny that the craftspeople of New Rome were unparalleled in their many skills.

The man smiled at her knowingly, and answered, “No. I bought it in Jordan, from street vendor.”

“Seriously?” Annabeth asked, incredulously.

“Greatness can come from anywhere,” he replied with a shrug.

“You think the weaver was a demigod?”

Rodriguez didn’t answer, and when Annabeth looked at his face to read his answer, he seemed troubled. His lips were pursed like he wasn’t sure whether or not to tell her something.

“What?”

He paused another moment. Annabeth narrowed her eyes. She was going to demand an answer, but something told her he was judging whether or not she was mature enough for the information. So, she tried a different tactic.

“Never mind, it doesn’t really matter,” she allowed.

Rodriguez chuckled, then said, “No, that particular question is fine. It’s easy to answer; no. I know she wasn’t a demigod. Or a descendant. But the next question isn’t quite as easy to answer, and I have a feeling you are the type of person to ask it.”

Annabeth met his raised eyebrows with the answer to his question he didn’t ask; “Why? Or, well, how do you know?”

“Because the gods don’t go to the Middle East,” he answered.

Now that surprised Annabeth. She knew, of course, that certain parts of the world were beyond the gods, but they could still go there. Certainly, the gods had existed as far east as Jordan during Roman times. She asked, “What? Why not?”

“There are a lot of answers to that questions. I don’t want to pollute your reasoning. Now, how about we get to what I actually wanted to talk to you about?” he implored.

She felt cheated, just a bit, but she nodded anyway and sipped her tea. She set the framed weaving back on his pile of boxes.

Dr. Rodriguez sipped his tea too. Letting her go first if she wanted to. Well, she didn’t.

“Right, well, first of all, I just wanted to say that I know you were told that you have to meet with me, but I’m not interested in enforcing mandatory counseling, no matter what New Rome and Chiron say.”

Annabeth didn’t want to give this guy the satisfaction of smiling, but a little bubble of tension popped in her chest. Rodriguez, though, definitely noticed. He actually smiled, as if he’d just won something.

Then, he put his hand over his chest and said “I’ve through some pretty fucked up stuff in my life. Bad enough that I was pushed into years of unwanted therapy with people I really didn’t like, and it was awful. So, I can imagine everyone around you is trying to do the same thing?”

Annabeth nodded. She really didn’t want to talk about it, but her dad hadn’t even asked her what she wanted before signing off on mandatory counseling.

Rodriguez nodded back knowingly. “Yeah, I thought so. Well, I’m not going to force you. I won’t even make you come talk to me. But-”

“But you think I need to see someone if I’ll ever get back to normal?” she supplied him bitterly.

“No,” he said, much more evenly than she expected. “For some people, even in very extreme cases, therapy isn’t the right answer. With the right support, and enough time, you can heal without the help of a counselor or a therapist. It just depends on the person, and the circumstances. Sometimes all that someone needs is the right medication, or to leave an unhealthy situation, or even just enough time to recover. Besides, it’s not really about being ‘normal’ again. There’s no such thing, especially not for demigods. But you can get back to feeling in control of your life, and comfortable with your mind and your experiences.”

Annabeth shrugged. Secretly, she had been worried that she really did need to see someone. Or, even worse, that she’d never get back to how she’d been a year ago, before Percy went missing. Luckily, though, Dr. Rodriguez didn’t press her.

“Anyway,” he continued, “I was just saying that I can be a resource within the school administration, if you need it. If you need to leave suddenly for any reason, or if a monster is stalking you, or even if a teacher tries to tell you that you’re too young to know what adversity is. I can be an adult who you don’t have to work around.”

“Thanks,” Annabeth said before she could stop herself. For some reason, she really believed this guy. He’d been authentic and smart, but he also hadn’t tried to be her friend, like so many counselors did. And it seemed like he was on her side. No, it seemed like he was on his side, but that matched up with what she wanted anyway.

“No need to thank me.”

She stood up. Her tea was only half gone, but it felt like it was time to go. It felt like if she stayed any longer she’d do something catastrophic, like start crying. “Really, thank you. It means a lot, Dr. Rodriguez.”

“Oh, call me Dan. I’ve never gone by my last name. And please, feel free to stay and finish your tea.”

“Thanks, but I told Percy I’d meet him after practice… which ended ten minutes ago.”

Rodriguez sighed. “Probably best I get back to work, anyway. It was nice to meet you, Annabeth. Feel free to stop by any time, if you want to chat, or if you just want some tea. If the door’s open, come on in.”

“Alright,” she agreed. “I’ll see you later, then.”

“See you later, Annabeth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this is a bit of a change, this updating thing. :) 
> 
> Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who has left comments on this story. Honestly, getting comments always inspires me to come back to this story and keep working on it.
> 
> Also, it's pretty obvious at this point that this will end up being longer than ten chapters, but I like to set small, manageable goals for myself. I'm not sure when I'll stop, but it will definitely be after more than four more chapters.


	7. Annabeth meets the gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I just updated this chapter because I really wasn't happy with it. I try not to bee too much of a perfectionist, and I'm sure there are a ton of errors still, but I feel like I can't put work out there that captures these characters inaccurately, especially when I'm writing about things like mental health. If you already read this chapter, I just changed the scene where Annabeth needs to leave the building and her subsequent talk with Percy.

The ultimate result of Annabeth being late to meet Percy was that they both went searching for each other all over the school. This meant that, at some point, both of them walked through every major hallway and asked multiple people where the other was, only to hear the reply, “They were just here!”

When they finally found each other, it was in the main gymnasium, where textbook rentals and school swag was still set up. It was probably the busiest room in the entire school, between the dozens of students and parents were sitting on the bleachers and chatting and the lines of people still purchasing supplies for next year. The room itself was in general commotion, but most people stopped talking when they heard Percy Jackson call out across the room.

“Annabeth!” he yelled when he spotted her. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

It felt like everyone was staring at them, and Annabeth couldn’t help but feel called back to last spring, when she’d assaulted her boyfriend in front of hundreds of Roman soldiers. In her defense, she hadn’t seen him for several months. Now, she felt the same pressure of many curious eyes, but she had less idea of what to do. (Alright, so she hadn’t acted the best in New Rome, but she still knew what she _should _have done. Here she had no idea how to interpret this crowd.) She actually felt her cheeks redden when she noticed Percy’s friends watching her cross the room, which immediately made her angry. Maybe she could judo-flip Percy again?

They ended up meeting in the middle of the room – a little closer to Annabeth since Percy was moving faster – where everyone could see them even better. They hugged briefly, but her boyfriend seemed to be waiting for her to say something. After all, Annabeth did usually have the first word. This time, though, she was content to let Percy lead the way.

When she didn’t say anything, Percy asked, “Are you okay?”

Good question. She was the recipient of an ancient legacy that caused monsters follow her constantly; the Greek gods had a vested interest in meddling with her life and the lives of everyone she loved; and she’d just returned from a quest across the world in which her mother literally led her to a trek through hell. Of course, most of that was stuff she’d grown up knowing, and had been more or less comfortable with her entire life. Even Tartarus, as awful as it was, still fit within range of the expected course of her life. So, wasn’t she okay? All Annabeth could focus on, though, was how she’d felt talking to Dr. Rodriguez.

But, all she said was, “Fine! Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Percy looked a bit skeptical. He took her hand, and replied. “Yeah, of course.” He looked around the room, seemingly noticing that, while few people were outright staring, there was a lot less chatter around them. He pointed to his friends who had found seats on the bleachers. “Why don’t we go sit with the group? I brought you some food in case you didn’t eat yet.”

Annabeth nodded. She would have preferred to leave such a crowded room, but the side of the room, up high, where people wouldn’t stare so much was still good. She squeezed Percy’s hand. “I didn’t even realize I was hungry, but now that you mention it, I’m starving,” she admitted.

Percy shrugged, and squeezed back. “You were too busy thinking for mortal concerns like food.”

Annabeth didn’t get a chance to respond that Chiron used to tell her almost the same thing when she was a kid. Had Percy overheard him saying it once?

Percy had gestured over his friends to come sit with them in a relatively unoccupied section, holding her hand the whole time. There were three of them; a boy and two girls, and they all looked like seniors, too. The boy was wearing matching basketball shorts to Percy, and he sat a bit closer, just a step below him. Probably Percy’s best friend, then. What was his name again?

“Let me introduce you to the everyone,” he said, following her gaze. “This is Josh. He’s been on the team with me since… Freshmen year?”

“Yeah, since we were fresh-people. Hi, nice to meet you,” the guy answered a bit nervously.

“Hi, I’m Annabeth,” she said awkwardly.

“Josh,” he replied, somewhat redundantly. He actually held out his hand to shake, which Annabeth thought was sort of adorable, and vaguely reminded her of something Frank might do. This boy couldn’t have looked more different from the Centurion, though. He was shorter than Percy, but not by much, and he had a much skinnier frame. He had pronounced features and very tight curls of sandy-brown hair that flopped down a bit into his eyes. There was something about him, too, that set Annabeth at ease. He struck her as earnest and friendly in a way that would have set her off if it wasn’t so genuine. She could really see why Percy had taken to him so easily.

The girls introduced themselves next.

The taller girl – Jessica (“But everyone calls me Jessie.”) – wasn’t exactly what Annabeth would have expected in a friend of Percy’s. She was classically beautiful, with long, brown hair, well-applied natural makeup, and stylish clothes. Her posture implied moderate wealth or authority, and she had the kind of calculated air of a very popular person. She reminded Annabeth of no one so much as Selina Beauregard, who never seemed like the kind of person who Percy would want to hang out with, or vice-versa.

She opened her arms for a hug, but seemed to realize that Annabeth was signaling that she didn’t like to be touched at the last minute, and instead side-hugged Anya. She seemed very nervous for someone who gave off popular vibes. Did this girl and Percy… No. Absolutely not. She felt a bit ashamed for even thinking it.

Jessie stepped back a bit, and then tried again to smooth it over. “I know you’re new here, but I heard you were in Calc too this semester. Or, well, not Calc 2, but that you’re also in Calc 1. You should join our study group, because Josh is a total legend at math, and I never know what’s happening.”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds great. I don’t know how it’ll compare to my old schools, but I could always use some help,” Annabeth replied, taken a little out of her comfort zone by talking about something so simple as a math class. Once upon a time she was good at things like this, but recently she’d had no patience or practice in small talk. It didn’t help that she’d been pretty uncomfortable in crowded places lately. It reminded her of the oppressive feeling of being surrounded by Romans, or in the boggy, enclosed space of Tartarus.

“She doesn’t want to talk about classes,” the last girl cut in bluntly. She didn’t seem to have been guessing from Annabeth’s expression, though, so maybe that was just how _she _felt about Calculus.

“And this is Anya,” Percy supplied, waving dramatically to his friend. He was smiling widely at her, like they were sharing an inside joke.

Anya was… interesting. She didn’t give off a hostile vibe, really. It was more like she overtly signaled to Annabeth that she didn’t trust her. She was a bit short, but her broad shoulders and chin made her look even shorter. She had thick, dark hair and an Eastern European look to her. Annabeth thought it probably made people think she was scary, or gruff, but the way she placed herself so close to Josh, and followed Percy’s every expression was a hint that she was actually very sensitive. It made Annabeth want to protect her. She wondered if that was what drew Percy to her in the first place.

“Nice to meet you,” Annabeth said, feeling somewhat repetitive. She looked over to Percy, who was biting his lip, watching their interactions while he leaned back. Classic Seaweed Brain. He was trying so hard not to force them to be friends that he was making everything awkward.

“Uhh… how was the tour?” Josh asked politely, rocking back on the heels of his hands.

“It was okay,” she replied. “I’ve probably seen every boarding school layout known to man by now, but it was nice to see everything. I didn’t realize how ridiculous it was to meet with teachers as an upperclassman, though. Took forever, too.”

“Ahh, that reminds me,” Percy said, cutting back into the conversation. He pulled out a bag of (blue) Doritos, a wrapped Turkey sandwich, and rummaged around for something else in his bag. “Figured you’d be hungry.”

Annabeth felt her stomach literally grumble. Food. She’d only had tea so far today. “Thank you! Gods, I don’t know what I’d do without you. I completely forgot to pack snacks.”

She was about to unwrap the sandwich when Percy pulled out a battered bag of peanut M&Ms.

“Why do you have those?” she asked softly. She couldn’t stop staring at it, and felt a stab of anxiety run through her. It was like suddenly remembering an embarrassing moment from years ago as if it was still happening. It wasn’t necessarily that eating peanut M&Ms was a bad memory, but it brought her back to that day (could she even make a distinction of days in Tartarus?) by Hermes’ altar, and suddenly the crowded room felt oppressive and malicious.

Percy moved in the corner of her eye, and she instinctively focused on all the people closest to him. There were dozens, and they all felt too close.

“Annabeth, hey, Annabeth, let’s get out of here. Let’s go outside.”

She focused on him. He was biting his lip, looking so concerned. She tried to fight down the racing of her heart. She knew this feeling well, and she knew that if she gave in, even just a little, she would spiral into something much worse. “Yeah, uh, can we?”

Percy nodded, grabbing both of their stuff. Normally Annabeth would have grumbled that she could carry her own bag, but she didn’t really have the effort at the moment. Every moment they were standing still felt dangerous.

“Hey, uh, do you want us to meet you later?” Anya asked awkwardly. Annabeth felt like punching her. _Really? _

“No, that’s fine Anya,” Percy said gently. He started walking down.

“Hey, Perce!” Josh called. “We were gonna go to the steps later, but the smoking spot is still empty.”

Percy didn’t stop walking, but he waved his hand to let Josh know he heard him. They descended the bleachers as quickly as possible.

“Excuse me,” Percy said urgently to a group of teenagers sitting on the stairway. They didn’t move for a moment, until they looked up. Annabeth had only ever seen monsters scamper away from Percy like that.

He pulled her along down a few hallways until they walked out a side entrance to the building. It was cloudy outside, and no one seemed to be around. They sat down, and for a moment all she did was focus on her breathing, on the clear open sky and the flat wall behind her, on Percy standing by her side.

After a few minutes, Percy asked, “Better?”

She nodded. “…Yeah. Thanks.”

“Any time,” Percy said easily. “You want to talk about it?”

Annabeth shook her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but she didn’t even know what to say. She couldn’t explain where it came from – she’d had plenty of peanut M&Ms since Tartarus – and she couldn’t even put into words what _it _was.

Percy slid his back down the wall until he was sitting. “I always need to be outside when I start to spiral. The best place is the fire escape at home.”

She slid down next to him, and really took a proper look at her boyfriend. It had been a while since she’d checked in with how he was doing. Lately she’d been more occupied with herself, and their relationship, and the entire world than with Percy as an independent person. He looked old. And tired. His face was peaceful as he looked up at the skyline, but it hadn’t been before. He had scared those kids.

“Have you been having trouble sleeping?” she asked gently.

Percy nodded. He searched her face when he inquired, “Yeah, you too?”

“No,” she admitted. “I’ve had a lot of bad dreams, but not the kind that wake me up.” Mostly her dreams featured her mother’s haunting face sending her on a quest, or endless hours of searching for Percy, only to find him completely different. More often, she woke up with a lingering sense of panic or dread, and no memory of what had caused it.

“Those are the worst ones,” Percy responded bitterly. “Mom wants me to see a doctor, but I don’t want drugs to make me sleep _more_.”

This was news to Annabeth. Percy had always had bad demigod dreams, but he’d never complained. Now, she wondered if his problem wasn’t that he couldn’t sleep, but that he was afraid to.

“I wish you didn’t have to deal with that,” she said, since there didn’t seem to be anything else to say. Then, she tried, “I talked to Dr. Rodriguez today. We didn’t really talk about anything important, but he seems nice.”

Percy nodded. “Yeah, I met him over IM a few weeks ago. I think he just moved here from San Francisco.”

Annabeth knew when her boyfriend was avoiding a conversation, so she let it drop. “Your friends seem cool,” she said conversationally. “Sorry we had to walk out on them.”

“They are the most understanding, respectful people in the world,” Percy proclaimed. “I promise, they won’t say anything weird. Josh is actually really open about dealing with a lot of anxiety. He seems to be doing way better now, but one time we had to hide in a janitor’s closet for an entire basketball practice because he was having a panic attack. He won’t judge.”

Annabeth smiled at the image of Percy hiding out in a dark closet for an hour. “Really?”

He nodded earnestly. “Absolutely. And Anya and Jessie totally get it too. I wouldn’t have survived around them last fall if they did.”

“Last fall?” she asked.

Percy adjusted his position, then said, “Yeah, well, going back to school after the titan war was kind of tough. I mean, I felt so isolated here at Goode, and being around people made it so much worse. Sometimes I just needed to be alone.”

“I didn’t know it was that hard for you,” Annabeth said guiltily. Had she really missed that much while they were at school?

“Well, it always helped talking to you so often,” Percy assured her. “I just needed to have someone who got it, you know?”

Annabeth thought about how much more comfortable she felt when Percy was around. Sometimes it felt like the entire world was split into two categories, and Percy was the only person in one of them. Most of her personal rules applied to everyone except him; never trust anyone explicitly, never be unarmed around others, never tell anyone your passwords. Even just now, Percy had known in an instant that something was wrong. Annabeth couldn’t even explain it to herself, but he seemed to get it. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

They shared a smile, and Annabeth leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Hey, you still hungry?” he asked.

“Not really,” she said uneasily. Her head had started to hurt – a common symptom of a panic attack, according to Will Solace.

“You should probably at least drink something. I have some nectar stashed near here, if you want?”

Annabeth sat up. “Really?” she asked incredulously. “When did you stash it?”

“Years ago, Josh and I found out where a bunch of stoners keep their weed on campus. They all got expelled for smoking in the dorm my freshman year, but no one ever found their stash, so I put a bunch of nectar and ambrosia there, just in case.”

Annabeth’s eyes widened. “That’s what Josh said. He said it was ‘still clear’. You stashed nectar and ambrosia where a mortal could find it?”

Percy rubbed his neck. “It’s really well hidden. We only found out because one of the theater kids told Josh, and everyone who knew got kicked out.”

“But Josh still knows about it,” Annabeth argued. “He could die if he ate any.”

“No, don’t worry. I told him to never, ever eat any, no matter what,” Percy explained. “I trust him. It’s been three years and obviously he never broke his promise.”

Annabeth was not convinced, but she suspected there was more to the story, so she allowed, “Okay, show me where it is.”

Twenty minutes later, Annabeth’s head felt much better, either from the medicinal qualities of a spoonful of nectar, the bottle of water she’d drank, or merely the sugars she’d needed. She’d even started picking at her turkey sandwich.

“Do you want to go meet up with your friends?” she asked Percy.

He studied her for a moment. “Not unless you want to.”

“I’d love to stay here forever, but I do want to get to know your friends,” she answered regretfully.

“We can just meet up tomorrow,” he offered.

Annabeth couldn’t help but think of how she would act during a diplomatic mission. “No, let’s go. There’s still a few hours before I become an official dorm resident.”

She was still eating her sandwich when Percy opened the doors to another side entrance to the school building – this one with big concrete steps and double doors.

“Hello again,” Josh said amiably.

Annabeth waved, since she was midway through a bite. She tried not to look ridiculous.

“We found you,” Anya added, while Annabeth simply nodded as she tried to swallow.

Anya frowned, and Annabeth noticed that Josh was mouthing something to Anya. _‘Overwhelming_’.

She started to put her food down.

“You really don’t have to-” Percy started, but Jessie beat him to it.  
  


“Oh my god, guys, stop staring at her and let the girl eat.” Then, she changed to subject to, “Anya, what musicals are they talking about doing this semester?”

Anya groaned. “We’re doing Little Shop of Horrors this year.”

“…Is that bad?” Josh asked, confused.

“No! It’s just. Well, it kind of sucks that the new drama teacher just chose for us! She didn’t even give us a list of shows to choose from. She just decided to go with the one she thought we could _handle. _What does that even mean?” she groused. Annabeth noticed that she tended to talk with her hands a lot.

“Wait, there’s a new drama teacher?” Percy asked.

“Oh, yeah. You don’t know,” Jessie said wonderingly. “There was huge drama last year with the drama department. They fired Mr. Prasad like a week before the spring production. It was a disaster.”

Percy raised his eyes. “They fired Mr. Prash? Why?”

“He called two girls dykes because they were holding hands under the bleachers,” Josh said grimly.

Percy’s jaw dropped. “What!”

“Yeah,” hummed Josh.

“Hang on,” Anya said. “That’s not the whole story. Those girls were completely awful. They had no respect for him and they were always making fun of his accent, and they didn’t care how many detentions he gave them.”

Everyone froze. Percy and Jessie looked at Josh, who seemed to be fighting to control his emotions.

“Look, he shouldn’t have said that,” Anya backtracked. “It was totally homophobic and awful, and you can’t say that to anyone. I’m just explaining that it wasn’t unprovoked.”

“Do you think they shouldn’t have fired him?” Josh asked.

“No! I mean, yes, they were right to fire him. But they should have punished those girls too,” Anya said frantically. Annabeth studied her expression. She guessed she must have been pretty close to Mr. Prashad.

“It was Mia and Rachel, right?” Jessie asked.

That caught Annabeth’s attention. “Rachel Dare?”

Which, in turn, caught everybody else’s attention. “How do _you_ know Rachel Dare?” asked Jessie, astounded.

“Percy dated her, remember?” Anya answered, somewhat coldly. She glanced at Annabeth, but there wasn’t any fear or remorse on her face. It felt like she was waiting to see if she’d get mad.

Percy reddened at Anya’s words, looking at Annabeth helplessly. He cleared his throat and said, “Only for like… a month, maybe.”

Annabeth frowned. Did he think she was still mad? Clearly his friends thought she must have been. She’d been well and truly over her jealousy of Rachel the moment the girl committed herself to being a virginal prophet. Besides, as the Oracle of Delphi, she’d been the best source of godly information when Percy was missing. “Rachel goes to the same camp as Percy and me. We met a few years go.”

“Oh,” said Jessie, unsure of what to do with that information. “That’s kind of random. It seems like everyone in Percy’s life goes to that camp.”

Josh laughed, effectively cutting the tension, and said, “I’ve been telling you guys for years! They go to an illuminati summer camp. They can’t tell us anything without revealing free mason secrets.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Anyway, it was a different Rachel. Rachel Dare goes to some finishing school up state. And she isn’t a horrible racist bitch.”

Percy laughed. “Wait, are we talking about Rachel Matheson? The girl who protested putting menorahs at school two years ago?”

“Yup,” Anya answered. “And she’s gotten so much worse. I had to take up directing her in the musical last spring, and it was awful!”

“Oh my god, Percy, you have to let Anya tell this story!” Jessie exclaimed.

Anya launched into a long story about all the bratty rich kids in the Goode High production of Fiddler on the Roof. She was a very animated storyteller, using great facial expressions and voices for each person. Percy, knowing all of these people and never having heard this story, laughed the entire time. Annabeth took the opportunity to finish her sandwich and collect herself.

She noticed, as Anya told her story, that she seemed to defer to Percy in everything. Of course, he was the one hearing it for the first time, but it was more than that. He wasn’t being treated as an audience so much as the leader. Every new thought was addressed to him; “Oh, Percy, you should have seen her face!”, or, “did I tell you, Perce, that he actually still talks about that time you helped him open his locker?” Annabeth could tell by Anya’s expression that it was a sign of genuine love and respect. It was obviously not romantic – Anya seemed to have more of a sibling relationship with Percy – but it was deep and real, the way people who had fought behind Percy felt about him. It made Annabeth wonder what Percy had done for her to evoke such a strong feeling.

What’s more, she noticed that Josh was staying out of the conversation entirely. He still seemed hurt by what Anya had said. It certainly made sense. He definitely seemed like the kind of guy to stick up for others who might need it. She could really see why he and Percy were best friends. He caught her looking at him after a moment, so Annabeth offered him some Doritos with a smile.

After Anya finished her story, the conversation shifted to auditions for the musical. “You should try out for the play,” Anya told her, scrutinizing Annabeth for some theatrical qualities. “Have you ever done drama before?”

“Um,” she hesitated, unsure if she wanted to commit to anything, but also afraid to get on Anya’s bad side. “I’ve never done theater in school, but a friend of mine forced me to act in a pantomime this summer. Plus, I had a very holistic education, so I had to do improv classes and perform monologues in school.”

“Oh, did you go to one of those hippy granola schools out in California?” Josh asked her.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. “I was actually mostly homeschooled, but it was more of a classical style than hippie granola. I’ve been doing a lot of independent study lately too. I’m a bit nervous about taking real classes, to be honest.”

And just like that, they were back to talking about classes, which was a much safer subject. It was stressful having to watch her every word. She wasn’t used to being friends with mortals. Most of the people she interacted with were either campers or mystical immortal beings who she never had to hide anything from, or mortals that she had to completely hide her identity from while she was on a mission. She had spent a miscellaneous semester at a school in San Francisco one year, and one in New York the fall before Percy disappeared, but she’d struggled to make friends for this same reason. It was just really hard to be halfway honest with someone and be able to build a friendship.

However, Annabeth was happy to hear that Jessie was actually a very serious student. Actually, she was very easy to talk to in general. She had a kind of ease that usually came with talking to her siblings, except without the whole being-siblings thing. Josh seemed to be effortlessly intelligent, and Anya didn’t seem to care too much about her schoolwork, so it was nice to know someone else who planned on dedicating their Saturdays to studying. Jessie was also happy to talk about design and architecture too, even though she didn’t know that much.

“Hey, do you ever watch Ted Talks on youtube?” Jessie inquired after a solid hour of conversations that had jumped just about everywhere. At some point the other three had broken off to have their own conversation, though Percy still held her hand.

“I’ve seen a few,” Annabeth said, unsure how to broach the subject of almost never having access to the internet. 

“Okay, there’s this really good one about this company in Japan that designs preschools so that they’re better for little kids…”

What felt like a short while later, Percy caught her attention by squeezing her shoulder.

“What?”

He stood up, and gestured to his watch. “Maybe we should head back. It’s already 3:30, so Paul is going to be done soon…”

“And you probably have to go to res orientation, right, Annabeth?” Jessie added in quickly, pointing to a sheet of paper in her hand. She was the only one who had a schedule out, and it was highlighted in bright blue. Annabeth had looked over and saw that Jessie had Honors Society at 3:45, while she had “New Residents Orientation” in the same time block.

“Do you have to go?” Percy asked unhappily. “I was hoping you would stop by Paul’s office with me. He said he wanted to see me.”

Annabeth bit her lip. She really didn’t want to be late for her first dorm meeting, especially as a new senior, but she didn’t want to say goodbye either. She knew she’d be busy as soon as school started for real, and it had been so nice staying with him and Sally and Paul. She cursed herself for signing up for all those teacher meetings and then for letting herself get distracted talking to Jessie. “It sounds like he wants to just talk to you. Besides, I really don’t want to be late. I’m meeting all the dorm parents and staff. I really think I have to go,” she said, upset.

Percy jutted out hit lower lip, batted his eyelashes, and sniffed despairingly. He looked ridiculous, but Annabeth could tell he was joking to make her feel better. She laughed and said, “I’ll miss you too, Seaweed Brain. Call me tonight?”

Percy shamelessly pouted for another moment, but eventually he acquiesced. “I guess I’ll survive,” he sighed dramatically. “Do you know where you’re going?”

“Uh… building three, right?” she said, searching for the campus map she’d set down earlier.

Percy frowned. “Honestly, I can’t remember. I know I used to know…”

“It’ll come back,” Annabeth said softly.

“It’s building two, actually,” Jessie supplied. “I can take you there, if you want? It can be kind of hard to navigate that building, and Percy wouldn’t be allowed on the first floor.”

“Well…”

“That’s probably best,” Annabeth replied reluctantly. “Thanks.”

She gave Percy a chaste kiss on the cheek and a long hug, and gathered her bag. “Say hi to Paul for me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Percy looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself, and instead just waved.

Just before she opened the door, she turned around. “Oh, and don’t forget to call me, Seaweed Brain.”

“Thanks for showing me the way,” Annabeth said to Jessie while they walked.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I actually used to live in the dorm before I moved in with my grandma,” Jessie explained.

“Really? What’s it like?” she asked nervously. Jessie already struck her as an accurate judge of character.

The taller girl hesitated. “Well, the dorm itself is okay. The food is actually pretty good,” she allowed, hesitating to say anything more.

“And?”

“Look, Annabeth, I don’t want to give you a bad impression before you even start,” Jessie explained. “I had a bad time living there for a lot of reasons that might not apply to you. You don’t seem like the kind of person to get involved in drama, which is a great start. And, well, most of the girls I lived with have already graduated by now, so I wouldn’t know what the culture’s like now.”

“Right. Thanks.”

Jessie sighed. “Okay, I just had a really hard time with how fake and mean all the girls in the dorm were. They’re mostly the wealthiest students and they mostly acted really entitled. But, they usually put new students together, so you might be with someone totally normal and cool.”

Annabeth couldn’t help but wish Jessie would just tell her whatever she was holding back on. But, well, as close as she already felt to Jessie, they had only just met today. She followed the girl into a familiar building and through an odd combination of hallways until they were just outside the common room.

“Thanks, Jessie,” Annabeth said.

The girl smiled at her, and it made her look less popular. She really was beautiful. “No problem. It was really cool meeting you today, Annabeth. See you tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say a huge thanks to people who comment on this story. I probably would never work on this one if it wasn't for the occasional emails I get with the loveliest things to say. I mostly try to write stories that I wanted to read when I first discovered fanfiction, but it helps enormously to know that other people are looking for the same thing. Sorry for the ridiculously long time between updates, but I hope the double length makes up for it a bit!


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